


Been So Long

by corellianrogue



Series: A Step to the Left of Reality [11]
Category: Dong Bang Shin Ki
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Post-lawsuit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-18 23:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corellianrogue/pseuds/corellianrogue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been years, but how long is too long?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Been So Long

**Author's Note:**

  * For [augurscourtesan](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=augurscourtesan).



> Written for the 2010 nunafanworks holiday fic exchange on LJ.

Yoochun slouched in his car, not quite willing to get out yet. It had been... a really long time. A really long time since he'd sung with the people who still lived there. An even longer time since they'd really been a group. First the lawsuit, which looking back had been one of the most stupid yet necessary things he'd ever done. Then, as months turned to years, SM had sent Yunho off to 'serve his country,' which turned into working some desk job for two years because no one in their right mind would put someone who'd broken himself as often as Yunho had into a combat situation.  
  
Yoochun still didn't believe it was a 'coincidence' that Jaejoong had gone for his term just weeks after that announcement hit the news.  
  
With members on both sides gone, the group had been allowed to drift out of the spotlight. Even SM hadn't bothered fighting much longer, extending quiet feelers of reconciliation soon after. Which meant Dong Bang Shin Ki was... free. Mostly. And Yoochun still didn't believe it.  
  
And now Yunho and Jaejoong were back, and the fans were starting rumors left and right about come-back tours and albums or that the members all actually hated each other after all this time or that one or the other of them had secretly died (usually Changmin... and sometimes Yoochun had to admit that he'd considered the possibility for as well as he avoided the media).  
  
Which... left Yoochun here. Sitting in his car in the parking garage of an apartment building he hadn't been back to, hadn't been _allowed_ back to, since all this mess started. He still wasn't entirely sure why HE was here, except that Junsu had really good puppy-dog eyes when he needed them.  
  
And Jaejoong gave really persuasive blowjobs.  
  
He sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face. They were getting long again. Maybe it was time for a new haircut. He made a disgusted sound as he realized he was just wasting time at this point. So what if he was scared they'd laugh at him? So what if... if Changmin was really a lot scarier these days than he had been and if they'd had to get used to a bed seeming too empty even with three people in it? That was the past.  
  
Right?  
  
He locked his car and stomped his way resolutely to the security door. He buzzed up to what he'd been told was still their apartment number. And waited. And waited some more. He was just about to buzz again when there was a click from the speaker.  
  
"Forget your keys again, hyung? I told you I wasn't going to let you in again. Go call maintenance."  
  
Well, technically... He swallowed hard. "Um..." At least this settled that rumor.  
  
He could almost hear the suspicion in Changmin's voice following the telling, startled pause. "Who is this?" Great, way to defuse the situation, Yoochun. Good job.  
  
"Um... your favorite hyung?" Introducing himself after all this time just felt weird. Really weird. Why couldn't Yunho have answered the buzzer?  
  
More odd silence that Yoochun couldn't quite figure out before the door unlocked, letting him in without another word from Changmin. The speaker cut off before Yoochun could even say thank you.  
  
This was off to a wonderful start already.  
  
He took the stairs instead of the elevator, needing the extra time to convince himself that this actually was a good idea. And maybe if he went slow enough, Yunho would get home first. But when had he ever been that lucky?  
  
He didn't even get a chance to knock before Changmin opened the door, looking as unimpressed as only Changmin could. Yoochun lowered his hand slowly, aborted knock becoming a horrible failure of an attempt at a jaunty wave and finally settling for scratching his ear. "Hi?"  
  
Was a raised eyebrow a good sign? "You show up on someone's doorstep with no warning after all this time and say 'hi?'"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Changmin sighed a sigh that would have been a growl if he'd thought Yoochun was worth the effort. At least that hadn't changed. "Idiot." But not closing the door behind him as he went back into the apartment was totally an invitation to come inside, right? Right.  
  
He shut the door behind himself, taking time to glance around the apartment. New furniture, fewer pictures, definitely less noise. But not unrecognizable. He could work with this. "I know you are, but what am I?"  
  
He knew his smile was horribly forced, but what else was he supposed to do when Changmin started looking at him like that? It wasn't his fault. It had just slipped out. Blame Junsu. It...  
  
Was that a grin?  
  
"You're seriously weird, hyung. Or you've been spending too much time around Junsu." That's what he'd said! Changmin was definitely grinning now, and Yoochun wasn't sure what to make of that. "And your hair makes you look even more like a girl in person."  
  
Obviously, Changmin hadn't grown out of being a bastard yet, but Yoochun was actually smiling as he followed Changmin into the living room. Somehow, he got the vague feeling that they were even now, although he wasn't quite sure why. Or how. Or why it had had to involve Changmin calling him a girl. "Hey..."  
  
Changmin had the gall to look completely innocent as he sprawled onto the couch. Changmin was never completely innocent. Yoochun would know. "Well, you do."  
  
"I do not."  
  
"Do, too."  
  
"Not."  
  
"Too."  
  
"Not... times infinity, and I've been around Jaejoong a lot more than you the last few years, so I've had a lot more practice at childish arguments. So there."  
  
Changmin snorted. "And I'm still living with Yunho. That probably cancels out your Jaejoong advantage." They both fell quiet, reminded of the countless pointless arguments their two eldest tended to get into, both with each other and with the rest of the members, each odder than the last. Then the silence stretched past comfortable into the sort of thing that had started invading dressing rooms during the last few live appearances they'd had together.  
  
"So-"  
  
"So-"  
  
Yoochun bit his tongue at the same time Changmin sighed. Maybe not quite so familiar anymore. Changmin gestured for Yoochun to go first, and Yoochun almost sort of hated him for it. "Long story short, I was sent to invite you two to dinner tonight."  
  
"Do I want to know the longer version?"  
  
A question he knew the answer to! "It involved duct tape and possible kidnapping charges, so probably not." Some day, they would stop letting Jaejoong pretend to be the brains of the operation. Some day when he stopped working out quite so much.  
  
Changmin rearranged himself on the couch, reaching across Yoochun for a glass on the far end table and not quite settling back down as far away as he'd been when he started. "So, typical Jaejoong."  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
Changmin nodded like that made perfect sense. Which, once you got used to Jaejoong, it mostly did. In the way that anything involving Jaejoong made sense. "And you couldn't just call first because...?"  
  
Because none of them had been sure the other two wouldn't refuse over the phone. "Because I was also supposed to make sure you weren't living in squalor and/or hadn't burnt down the apartment yet."  
  
"Pretty sure that would have made the news, hyung."  
  
"Hey, don't blame me. Blame Jaejoong's overactive imagination. He actually believes the fangirls half the time these days." See? See why they needed Changmin and Yunho? Those two were the sane ones!  
  
"...Right." Yoochun sulked. Did Changmin have to sound quite so dubious about it? "But lucky for you, I'm tired of Yunho's cooking or take-out every night, so as long as Jaejoong is cooking, we'll come."  
  
It took Yoochun a second to believe it was actually that easy. No, scratch that, a second wasn't long enough. "Really?"  
  
Changmin rolled his eyes, but he didn't look all that exasperated for once. "Is it really so hard to believe we missed you, too? Stop looking so shocked or I'll give you a good reason to be."  
  
Was that supposed to help? Really? Changmin was delusional, obviously. Changmin was... Changmin was...  
  
Changmin was kissing him.  
  
...Okay, so maybe it did help.  
  
Changmin broke the kiss with a tiny sigh. "I repeat, is it really so hard to believe we missed you, too?"  
  
Well, when he put it that way... "I guess-"  
  
"Honey, I'm home~"  
  
Changmin groaned, but there was a fondness to the sound that didn't at all pretend not to be completely exasperated. "I told you to stop watching cheesy TV shows, hyung. They don't do anything for you."  
  
Yunho came around the corner into the living room, and Yoochun almost wanted to launch himself at him just for being so... Yunho. Especially the pout. "It's not cheesy. It's an American classic. I thought you liked classics." He turned a smile on Yoochun like he wasn't randomly in their living room after years. "No hello?"  
  
Okay, screw that. Totally launching now. And if he got a little teary-eyed, at least Yunho wouldn't laugh at him. Unlike stupid Changmin.  
  
"I like real classics, hyung. Not I Love Lucy."  
  
There was something odd about this. Yoochun scrubbed his eyes against Yunho's shoulder, listening to the two bicker about nothing like an old married couple until it hit him. "...Shouldn't you two, like, be surprised to see me or something?"  
  
Yunho shrugged with a distinct lack of concern, nudging Yoochun back over to the couch before taking his shopping bags farther into the apartment. Which left Yoochun with Changmin. A very smug Changmin. He sighed. "Fine. Spill. Who told you I was coming?"  
  
"Junsu." Which would be a fine answer, if not for the faint "Jaejoong~" coming from farther in the apartment. And Changmin was grinning like a damned cat.  
  
Yunho laughed as he returned just in time to catch Yoochun's expression. "I guess they didn't tell you?"  
  
"Not that we told each other, either. Just ignore Yunho."  
  
"So, like usual."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Changmin's grin still hadn't faded. Yoochun was starting to hate it. Also as usual. "We figured it out a couple days ago."  
  
Yoochun looked between them before flopping back onto the couch, being careful to hit Changmin squarely in the stomach in the process. The retaliation was totally worth it. "Okay, I get it, you're smarter than me. Now start from the beginning."  
  
Yunho nudged him to shift enough to lean back against him. "There's not really a beginning to start from. Jaejoong's always had too many phones for anyone to keep track of. It was only a matter of time before he figured out that management can't watch for a number they don't know exists. And Changmin..."  
  
"Knows that no one pays attention to what people talk about on those stupid online rpgs Junsu likes. Plus, it's fun to always beat his high scores."  
  
Of course. He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. "So they set me up because they both already knew you didn't hate us. I'm going to kill them."  
  
"Hey..." Although, getting to hear the concern in Yunho's voice in person again made him not want to kill them quite so much. "We don't hate you. We never did." Changmin scoffed. "...Okay, maybe there were a few hurt feelings at first, but we missed you way too much to hate you after that."  
  
Hurt feelings. Yeah, that pretty much summed it all up. Yoochun reached out to pull Changmin closer, ignoring the inevitable eye roll and focusing on the fact that Changmin scooted over to sprawl against his shoulder instead of the other end of the couch. He kind of wanted to cry again. Except in a totally manly way, of course. "We missed you guys, too." The warm-fuzzies were almost overwhelming.  
  
"Of course you did. We're awesome." Until Changmin opened his mouth. "Even if you did hold out longer than the other two."  
  
Yep, warm-fuzzies effectively killed. "You know I hate you, right?"  
  
Changmin's mouth was just as annoying in a smirk as open... although now he was thinking about it, Yoochun could think of a few non-annoying things he could do with it. "Yup. But Jaejoong's got you wrapped around his little finger, so you won't do anything."  
  
Like hell he wouldn't. He'd frown! And growl! And even lunge forward to pull Changmin into a violent kiss and... that probably wasn't the sort of 'anything' he'd meant, but dammit, it made Yoochun feel better. Especially when Changmin came out of it looking a little dazed. "Oh?"  
  
He felt even better when Changmin colored, just a bit. "Shut up, hyung. That doesn't count."  
  
Behind them, Yunho made a noise that wanted to be a tired sigh but was far too amused to manage it. "Children, do I need to send you to your room?"  
  
Yoochun rolled his eyes, slapping Yunho's leg. "Changmin is right. You really do need to stop watching cheesy shows."  
  
He couldn't see Yunho's pout, but he could practically feel it. How did he almost miss them more now than he had before he'd come? It was like all the time they'd been separate was crowding closer with each thing he rediscovered. He didn't sniffle, exactly, except that he totally did. Yunho pulled him close immediately, pout forgotten. "Hey. Yoochun-ah, it's okay."  
  
No 'what's wrong?' or 'don't cry' or even 'are you okay?' Because this was Yunho, even after all this time. Which didn't help the sniffling, which was _not_ crying. Not even after Changmin joined the hug. Nope. Certainly not when Yunho tilted his chin up for a kiss.  
  
Okay, maybe a little, but he'd forgotten how this felt. It still wasn't quite perfect, though, and the way Yunho looked at him after he pulled away said he knew it, too.  
  
Changmin propped his chin on Yoochun's shoulder, all three of them falling quiet as Yunho pulled them both close again. They could probably stay there like this forever. Except...  
  
"So. Food?"  
  
Yoochun laughed, maybe too loud and too long for what Changmin had said, but neither of the other two seemed inclined to mention it. "Yeah, food. And you can help me pay them both back for keeping this a secret."  
  
Maybe dinner would be a little late tonight.


End file.
